Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

Assessing Simulated Transmissivity In Numerical Flow Models Of Complex Hydrogeology, Afan Tarar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Accurately extracting a meaningful transmissivity, a target value within one order of magnitude of field estimates, in numerical models poses a significant challenge when modeling complex groundwater systems. Aquifer transmissivity is directly proportional to the aquifer thickness and the estimated aquifer hydraulic conductivity. In complex geologic conditions (especially in fractured systems) with multiple heterogeneous and anisotropic hydrogeologic units, transmissivity can vary over several orders of magnitude.

To extract a meaningful value of transmissivity from a numerical model, a simple five-layer MODFLOW model was constructed. Each layer in the model was assigned a fixed hydraulic conductivity and thickness. The model simulates …